Backward is the Only Direction We Go
by an-extraordinary-muse
Summary: It's just a game in a bar, but it makes Harvey think that he's on the verge of wanting more. (Or that one time that Harriet Specter and Michelle Ross are caught red-handed).


_**AN: This is just meant to be a little bit of fun with some underlying sexual tension. I might add more when I have more time. Set sometime season 2 or so.**_

* * *

Donna starts grinning the second she steps into the bar and sets eyes on Rachel. Her friend is seated at a tall table on the other side of the room, and a man of the Tall-Dark-and-Handsome sort is talking to her. An early start, Donna thinks, means we're in for a good night.

The redhead weaves her way through the crowd and slips quietly into the seat across from Rachel. In the moment before the man notices her arrival, Donna makes eye contact with her friend and winks. Rachel purses her lips to hide her answering smile.

When the man does turn and notice that there is someone in the seat that had previously been empty, his reaction isn't quite the one that Donna expects.

"Hello," he says congenially. "I'm Adam."

"Hello, Adam," Donna replies sweetly. "I'm Donna."

Adam shakes her hand and then glances back at Rachel uncertainly. There must be something in her expression, or maybe in Donna's tone, that puts him on alert.

"Are you Rachel's girlfriend?" Adam inquires. He doesn't give her time to answer. "Because if you are then I'll apologize for hitting on her and bow out gracefully."

Rachel's eyes get progressively wider as Adam speaks, but Donna's grin only widens with every word. She stares pointedly at her friend as she pulls a napkin over and a pen out of her purse to scribble something.

"Oh, I like you, Adam," Donna informs him. She finishes writing with a flourish. "And Rachel doesn't have a girlfriend." She tucks the napkin into the front pocket of his suit jacket so that the only word visible on it is Rachel's name. "Use it wisely."

Adam looks to Rachel and asks without a word if she is on board with Donna giving out her phone number. Feeling playful (as she always does when she's out with Donna) Rachel smiles and leans forward onto her arms.

"Don't wait too long."

The two women watch Adam disappear into the crowd. When he's out of sight Donna turns to Rachel and stage whispers a "wow!".

"Respectful and handsome," Donna teases. "You are so going out with him when he calls."

"What if he doesn't call?"

Donna scoffs. "He'll call."

They aren't really out to be themselves though. Donna's day has been shit and Rachel doesn't need to say anything for the other woman to know that she's bothered about the lack of forward motion in her dealings with Mike. Things in their corner of the world are good, but they aren't great – and if there's one thing that Donna Paulsen and Rachel Zane have in common it's that they both want great.

"You know what I think?" Donna asks as she orders them their first round of shots. "Tonight is a Harriet and Michelle sort of night."

Rachel laughs. "I thought that was a one time thing?"

"It was, but now it isn't."

Rachel narrows her eyes at her beautiful friend and understands what Donna isn't telling her. The redhead is lovely – she always is – and her expression is warm enough, but there's a sense of tension behind the curve of her mouth.

"Bad day?" Rachel queries.

"Not really. Just not a great one."

Rachel tips her chin down in a show of understanding. She stares at her empty shot glass and decides that Donna is right: they need a night of fun; they deserve some easy laughter.

The brunette orders them both Cosmopolitan's next. When the waiter drops them off at the table, she holds her glass up to Donna's with a smirk.

"To Harriet Specter and Michelle Ross," Rachel toasts.

Donna leans toward her friend and before taking a drink says, "I get the one at the bar."

"You can't call dibs yet, we haven't even started!" Rachel laughingly protests.

"We just did," Donna counters.

* * *

"I didn't take you for the 'hiding in the corner' type."

Harvey raises his eyes to see Mike dropping into the chair across from him. "Oh, I'm not hiding," Harvey corrects him. "I'm here for a reason."

"And what reason is that?"

Harvey raises both of his eyebrows and barely tips his head in the direction of the bar. Confused, Mike surreptitiously tosses a gaze over the area in question. Unable to find anything out of place, he's about to request an explanation when he hears it.

"Harriet Specter," a familiar voice intones. "And I'm the best damn lawyer in the state."

Mike's mouth falls open in surprise and he turns stunned eyes on Harvey. The other man is grinning.

"This is Michelle Ross," Donna continues some distance away. "My sidekick."

"Partner," Rachel says.

"Protégé," Donna amends.

"Associate."

Harvey's laughing into his glass of scotch. Mike thinks about being offended, but the hilarity of the situation quickly wins out. He wants to turn in his seat and figure out where exactly Donna and Rachel are, but he's afraid that doing so will alert the two women to their presence.

Instead, he asks lowly, "They know we're here?"

"Nope." Harvey pops the 'p' at the end of the word.

"How long have they been at it?"

"About half an hour."

"Is it working?"

"Like magic."

A knot of bodies unwinds itself a few minutes later and Mike finally catches sight of them. Rachel has just slid into a chair at one of the tables near the window; Donna follows suit and flips several strands of copper hair over her shoulder as she does so. A waiter approaches their table with a round of fresh drinks.

"Should we tell them we're here?"

Harvey has a strange expression on his face when the younger man looks back at him. His laughter has been replaced with a smile, but there is something about the way that his eyes are trained on Donna that makes Mike suspicious.

"I just did." Harvey drains his glass and stands. "C'mon."

Harvey and Mike arrive just in time to see the waiter leaving. Donna has dissolved into laughter over the glass of scotch that now sits in front of her; the confusion drops off of Rachel's face as soon as the two men step into the empty spaces around their table.

Harvey can't hide the grin that splits his face as soon as Donna lifts her eyes to him. Her cheeks are flushed and there's laughter on her lips, and a weight that has nothing to do with alcohol settles in Harvey's gut.

"Hi, I'm Don Paulsen," Harvey starts. He extends his hand to Donna, who can barely stop laughing long enough to shake it. "This is my friend, Richard Zane."

"Oh, shut up, Harvey," Donna quips. "Sit down."

"Sidekick?" Mike teases. He shoots Donna an accusatory glance. "That hurts."

"But it works." She shows him a piece of paper with a phone number on it to prove her point.

"Maybe to get you numbers you can't use," Harvey hedges.

"Who says I can't?" Donna challenges.

"What do you think will happen when you go out on a date and he finds out your name isn't really Harriet Specter?"

"Please," Donna says with a huff of laughter. "This is me we're talking about. If he was lucky enough to take me out I guarantee the last thing on his mind would be whether or not I gave him a fake name."

Mike casts a glance at Rachel to make sure that she's seeing what he is. The paralegal bites her bottom lip and raises an eyebrow in silent support. She sees what's going on, all right.

Harvey is leaning on his forearms and Donna, who loves to raise challenges and never backs away from one, has dipped her head forward and down as if she's telling him a secret.

The only secret Mike sees is that these two people share something so obvious that it's almost painful.

The closer that Donna gets the more Harvey becomes aware of a desire that he's managed to subjugate for years: he wants to kiss her. Her bright hair has fallen forward to swathe one prim shoulder and there's a lingering wetness on her lips from her drink that beckons to him. He wants to kiss her until the taste of the scotch and alcohol disappears, and all that's left is Donna.

"How about a bet," Harvey proposes. He needs to get some distance before he rushes headlong into the abyss.

Donna nearly coos and the sound sets Harvey on edge. "Name it," she says.

"Mike and I can get more numbers as you and Rachel then you can as us."

"Whoa now," Mike interjects, "when did I agree to be part of this?"

"Scared you'll lose?" Rachel goads him.

"Not a chance."

"Deal," Donna says quickly. Her eyes glitter dangerously at him in the half-light of the bar. "What are the terms?"

"Bragging rights," Harvey answers.

Mike has never seen his boss like this. Harvey isn't always a hard ass, but neither has Mike ever seen him this playful. He seems years younger as he stares at Donna with a grin like the Cheshire cat. There's something predatory in the way he watches her, as though he's ten seconds from devouring her. Mike doesn't remember seeing such a look directed at anyone else in the time he's known Harvey.

It's the first time Mike realizes that whatever is between Donna and Harvey is inevitable.

The two people in question shake hands to seal the deal, and then the game is on.

The four of them meet up at the ladies' table at quarter to one in the morning; Donna and Rachel win by two phone numbers. The women laugh and high five even as Mike shakes his head and Harvey calls for a recount.

The easy camaraderie and good humor of the night look good on Donna. Harvey can't keep his eyes off of her face as she smiles and taunts him for the loss. He's not surprised because he knows Donna and has had a front seat to her limitless charm for years. Harvey is a handsome man with enough confidence for every person within a ten mile radius, but Donna is akin to gravity: she exists, and people are drawn in. Harvey has power, but Donna _is_ power.

Their group leaves the bar amidst laughter and cajoling, which somehow turns into a war of movie quotes between Mike and Harvey. Donna interrupts their repartee with an obscure quote that lands in the wrong place and sounds too much like an innuendo; when Rachel points it out Donna splutters and laughs and swears that isn't how she meant it to be taken. Harvey tries not to wish that she did.

They're not far from Rachel's apartment so Mike offers to walk her home. Donna gives her friend a hug and smiles at Mike, and then watches them disappear down the street.

Harvey is watching her when she turns to him.

"What?" she questions.

Harvey shakes his head. "Nothing."

He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his suit pants and turns his eyes up the street to watch for Ray. He wonders if it should be strange that Donna knows without asking that he's going to give her a ride home, but this is the two of them, after all, and they are nothing if not a well-oiled machine.

"Stewing over your loss?" she teases.

"No," Harvey denounces with a chuckle. "Just wondering how many times you've used my name at a bar."

Donna rolls her eyes up and to the side for a second in an approximation of deep thought, as though she's not sure of the answer. "Once or twice, but it's not really your name."

"Isn't it?"

"Nope. Harriet Specter is her own woman, thank you very much. She just happens to have the same last name."

Harvey's gaze sweeps over Donna's face. He's always acknowledged that she's a beautiful woman, but this is different; this is Donna on a Manhattan sidewalk with the city lights outlining her against the midnight darkness, and she veritably glows. There's a prickling sensation crawling its way over his skin and he thinks about reaching for her right up until the moment Ray pulls up at the curb.

The urge only intensifies as they climb into the back of the car and Ray navigates his way to Donna's apartment. She smells like the sweet tang of perfume and the heavy aroma of alcohol; the mix is strange but heady, and Harvey does his best not to wonder if she'd taste the same.

When they drop her off Donna gives him a wide smile and a sincere thank you that goes straight to his heart. He cares about this woman more than he can express and, much as he wants to, he won't risk her for a night of alcohol-dazed sex.

Harvey doesn't even think the words 'meaningless sex', because nothing is meaningless when it comes to Donna.

He does call her when he gets home, though. She picks up on the third ring.

"Hi," Harvey says in his most unaffected voice, "Is this Harriet Specter? You gave me your number in the bar about an hour ago."

Her laughter is warm through his phone and Harvey smiles into the emptiness of his loft. He's frightened to think that he wants to know what her laughter would sound like bouncing off of the sharp angles of his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Harvey."

"Goodnight, Donna."

Harvey thinks that a day will come soon when he's ready to find out.


End file.
